Residents call on Colwood to take action against speedsters near Esquimalt Lagoon

Residents near Esquimalt Lagoon in Colwood, who are concerned about increasing traffic volumes and speeding in the area, are calling on the City to take action.

For the last several years, residents on Milburn Drive, Lagoon Road and Ocean Boulevard have seen an increasing number of cars speeding through the area going anywhere from 10 kilometres to 40 kilometres an hour over the posted 40 km/h speed limit.

Many use the area as a cut through to avoid Metchosin Road.

“The thing that blows me away is the risk that people take,” said Cynthia Albers, who lives on Milburn Drive and has been passed multiple times while driving the speed limit on her road.

“Residents are trying to get through to council that it’s becoming dangerous and what is it going to take?”

In May 2017, Colwood council passed a recommendation to have city engineers look into the concerns and prepare a report on traffic volumes, speeding and pedestrian safety in the area. Speed readers were also installed in June to help gather information.

According to the City, staff are compiling and analyzing the speed reader data and a study on traffic calming will be mailed to residents in the surrounding area before the end of April. The City’s traffic calming policy states that measures will only be considered if 50 per cent of the surveys are returned, and 75 per cent of returned surveys must endorse a specific measure for the City to proceed with the work.

But residents are hoping to see the information from the speed readers before the survey goes out to help inform their decisions.

“We need to know that information before a survey goes out so that we can mull that over,” said Albers, adding the speed readers haven’t helped as some people blow by them and others slow down when it flashes and speed up shortly after.

“We just want to get people to slow down and be mindful of the folks that are walking and the folks that are trying to safely get in and out of their driveway … We just want people to be safe.”

Milburn Drive resident Susan MacDonald said this is a problem that has been going on for years and is at her wit’s end. She now has to blare music in her garden to drown out the noise of cars speeding by.

“How would people feel if we abused their neighbourhood that way? How would you feel if someone came roaring through your neighbourhood at highway speeds. It’s aggravating,” she said, adding she would like to see one end of Hatley Road closed off and speed bumps installed on Ocean Boulevard. “We’re just a disaster waiting to happen.”

Mayor Carol Hamilton said speeding is an issue throughout the municipality, noting it’s important to review the information before determining a solution.

“We certainly don’t want a city full of speed humps on every road and area either,” she said, adding money has already been put aside in the budget to implement traffic calming measures throughout the municipality.

“What will be the best course of action to modify the behaviour of people who tend to slide by? We have to look at many of the areas in the locale and make sure that people are respecting and participating in the rules of the road.”